I battle with myself. It was a risk to push her so far, but fuck it was fun. She’s so young, so untainted by the world. I can take her and make her mine completely. The idea has settled inside my brain and I can’t get rid of it. Why would I need to move on? I want to own her. I want her to be mine to do with as I want. It’s not rational, but it’s fucking real. When Torch kept looking at her, I wanted to end the motherfucker. “Mine” was the one word my brain kept repeating. I felt like a fucking caveman, and the only word I could form was… mine.

I take her to my room, help her stand, then lock the door behind her. The silence in the room is thick, and I wait for her to tell me what’s on her mind. It doesn’t take long.

“I’m not that person,” she whispers like she has something to be ashamed of.

“Qué?”

“I’m never going to be someone who could ever be comfortable doing what we just watched,” she says, and as if she’s still seeing it, her face flushes blood red. Something about it pleases me, but I still want her to admit she liked it.

I lean back against the door, watching her. My eyes travel up and down her body. I can still see signs of arousal in her body and her breathing, not to mention she’s having trouble meeting my eyes.

“You enjoyed it, querida. Even now, you’re dying to come,” I tell her, crossing my arms and waiting for her to admit it to me.

“It was…”

“It was fucking hot as hell,” I tell her, and somehow, her face grows a darker pink.

“If I have sex with you…” she starts.

But I don’t let her finish. “There is no ‘if’, Beth. I’m gonna have you. Before you leave this room, I will have you over and over,” I promise her.

“In this room,” she says, nerves making her voice shaky.

“Do you have a problem with that?”

“In this room, not out there,” she says, and perhaps I’m stupid, but it smacks me in the face when she tells me that.

I push off the wall and stride over to her. She takes a step back, but I don’t let her retreat from me. I let my hand cup the side of her neck. Her gray eyes are large and I stare straight into them, so she sees that what I’m about to say to her is the truth.

“No one will see me bringing you pleasure but me, if that’s what you want. Being with another means it must be enjoyable for both of us, mi cielo.”

“Do you—Do you enjoy… what they did?” Beth asks. “Is that what you do?”

“Are you asking if I like to share women? Si, I do sometimes.”

“And in front of people?”

“No. I like to give my partner my complete attention. I have no need for others to enjoy that with me.”

“Oh.”

“But, Beth, there is nothing wrong with people who need that kind of pleasure in their life.”

“I guess. Listen, Skull, I really like you and all, but I don’t think I can do this. I don’t want it.”

“You’re a liar. Do you want me to prove it?”

“No, I’m really not. I’m serious. I want to be honest with you,” she says, backing away from me. Since she’s going to the bed and sitting down and not trying to leave the room, I let her.

“I’m listening,” I prompt her when she goes quiet.

“It was taking all of my courage to give myself to you. Until I met you, I never really thought about sex much at all. So… this is kind of new to me.”

The jaded part in me wants to call her a liar, but I can’t deny the shy honesty on her face right now. My chest tightens in reaction, and that fucking word blasts through my brain again: mine.

“There is no ‘was’, Beth… We’ve come too far to turn back now.”

“That’s just it. I can’t be that woman out there. I just can’t…”

“I told you I don’t do public shows. There’s no one in this room but me and you, querida.”

“It was… interesting to watch,” she fumbles.

“Interesting?” I ask, thick with disbelief.

“It was arousing…”

“It was fucking hot,” I correct her, then kick myself as she physically jerks as if I hit her. Fuck, I keep forgetting how young she is and, hell, how innocent she is… even if that’s the reason for this conversation. I’ve never dealt with this before. I wonder if it’s worth it, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not going to be satisfied until I have her. Mine.

“But I can’t do that. I don’t want to do that.”

I sigh, tired of talking.

“Tell me exactly what it is you can’t do, Beth, so we can end this conversation.”

“I can’t be her!”

This time, my sigh come out more like a growl because, Jesus, I know she’s young, but since when did it get this fucking hard to understand a woman?

“Who?”

“I don’t want to have sex with more than one person—more than you. I can’t do that, Skull. I can’t and… I won’t.” She takes a breath. “So, I think it’s best if you just… take me back now.”

“Do you see anyone else in this room, Beth?”

“Well, no, but… All of that was obviously normal for—”

“For them, yes. I didn’t bring you here to share you with any fucking person. Did you not hear me threaten my own man outside for just looking at you?”

“Well, yeah, but I didn’t think you were serious.”

“I was dead serious.”

“You’re very confusing, Skull.”

“Jesus, woman, look in the fucking mirror. Now, are we done with this damn discussion?”

“I guess.”

“Thank fuck. Now strip.”

“Strip?”

“Yes. Take off those clothes. Now.”

Her face gets more color in it, but it has nothing to do with embarrassment anymore. Now, she’s just pissed at me. I like it. I like it when she shows me spirit.

“You do realize I haven’t done this before, right?”

“Si, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be understanding? Or… maybe even considerate?”

“No. I’m just supposed to make sure you come over and over and can’t walk when I’m done—which I will do. And, as an added bonus, I’ll make your body crave what only I can give it, so you will always want more… even when I have made you come so hard you pass out from the pleasure. Now, mi cielo… strip.”